Plec with swollen belly

[the emperor]

I have a plec with a very swollen belly the poor thing is having trouble getting to his food for his gut. It's so swollen his lips won't reach the glass to stick to properly. It's a sailfin plec or a commom one around 12 months old and about 4 inch big i feed him hikari algae wafers along with courgette and cuccumber. He's in a 20 gallon tank that has been running for 8 months filter is a fluval 3 plus normal gravel and fake plants i do water changes every 2 weeks. I dechlorinate with tetratec other fish are 1 albino red fin shark 6 babie mollies. I only have a ammonia test kit and it reads 0.1 also his poo is clear. Please can anyone help as it's my first plec.

 

[WILDER]

If the poo is clear and he is bloated it sounds like it could be internal parasites, is the anus red and inflamed, and is there anything prutruding out of it.

 

[Jen21]

This happened to one of my plecos, and unfortunately he didnt make it but a few of my other fish were swollen too. How are your other fish? I would suggest some treatment for the tank... good luckk!

 

[the emperor]

All the rest of the fish are fine. His anus is not red and looks fine he's not eating though Did a 25% water change and started medicating with Pimafix could it be dropsy and should i quarantine him as i have a 3 gal tank

 

[WILDER]

Well it could be a bacteria infection or an internal parasite problem, has the fish darkened in colour, the problem with internal parasites is that it can cause bacteria infections as well.